Data transparency in cycling: necessary, utopian, and a complete can of worms

This year’s Tour de France is developing into a bit of a split race, being both exciting by stage and predictable by General Classification (GC). This was most clearly demonstrated by the blistering performance of yesterday’s stage winner Steve Cummings of MTN-Qhubeka (the African team’s first stage win, on Mandela Day, no less), followed by Chris Froome hoovering up all attacks against him. It was an eventful ride for Team Sky, with fists, saliva and urine apparently being thrown at them. They are currently the sport’s bad guys, for no reason other than dominance. The last team to dominate like Sky did was one of the liveries led by Lance Armstrong, and Sky’s tactics and public relations stance continue to draw uncomfortable parallels with the Armstrong era. This suspicion has led to calls for Sky (and others) to be more transparent about their power data in particular, since the view…